Single Channel RAM v Dual Channel

I just got a pressie of one more DIMM the exact same--same manufacturer, same everything. My motherboard is dual channel, but the user guide says it will only support dual channel for 2 or 4 DIMMs--so if I install this third DIMM, all RAM will run on single channel mode.

Reading around search results a bit, the consensus seems to be that dual channel is only significant for performance in rare cases like simulation or maybe 3D rendering--very little performance improvement for my various usages.

Leaving aside for the moment if 12GB is of any practical benefit over 8GB either:do you guys think 12 single is likely to be better than 8 dual, or at least no worse?

Afaik I don't ever max out the 8GB, but I may as well plug in the extra if it's not going to do any harm--at worst, it would be a spare DIMM if one of my current pair ever goes bad, and storing it in the PC is better than losing it somewhere else

Single isn't going to feel any slower than dual except with some pretty extreme scenarios. You might be looking at saving a minute per hour max, a 2% FSB bump on the Xeon would give more - on everything.

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Thank you Satrow, your comment gels with what others who seem knowledgeable are saying. I'll pop the third DIMM in then.

Originally Posted by satrow

a 2% FSB bump on the Xeon would give more - on everything.

If by "bump" you mean overclock, neither my mobo nor the Zeon can handle that. I need stability above all, so I've never indulged in overclocking. I prefer to spend the extra which overclocking requires [more expensive mobo, CPU and cooling system] on some of the components, to end up with very good stability and still good performance.

The Zeon is a good example--it's essentially an i7 without integrated graphics [which I don't need with my separate graphics card] and without overclocking ability, which I don't want either. It's cheaper than i7 and also runs cooler, so stability with performance.

I used the mild overclock as an example based on my own experience. My Ivy 1230 v2 could safely handle going to 3.4/3.85GHz from the stock 3.3/3.7 with a big, efficient cooler, it just felt faster than stock; not sure I'd do that with your Haswell version, they have a reputation for running hotter anyway. Much of my time with the Xeon, I have it locked it down to 1.6GHz, it's more than enough for my needs.

My RAM, on the other hand, I undervolted (1.25v at 1,600MHz) even though others were reporting it capable of 2,100-2,400.

But, yes, the Xeons are an excellent yet frequently overlooked alternative CPU in the price slot above the i5's and into the low/mid-priced i7's, especially if you live in a region where there's a decent range of versions offered/stocked.

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But, yes, the Xeons are an excellent yet frequently overlooked alternative CPU in the price slot above the i5's and into the low/mid-priced i7's, especially if you live in a region where there's a decent range of versions offered/stocked.

Why didn't I know this before I bought my i7 ??

David
Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

Probably because I didn't know and couldn't tell you. I've known about Xeons since they replaced the Pentium Pro but not about how they compared with the i7. Maybe I'll tell a young fellow I know who burned up 2 i7 CPUs in his 'playing around'. The only i7 I use is in a 4.5-year-old MacBook Pro.

I'd always regarded Xeon as a server chip, and it wasn't on my radar either until I did my research to choose between i5 and i7. I saw a couple of persuasive posts from someone talking about the Xeon. Then I want searching for discussions about Xeon, and it was a clear choice given my needs set out previously.

Fyi the hardware sites I generally research at are...
AnandTech
Tom's Hardware
Tom’s guide
...and I log my build at the excellent...
PCPartPicker
...which throws up warnings about compatibility problems, and shows current prices.

I buy mostly from Newegg, occasionally from Amazon. Knowledgeable reviews on those sites are very useful in decision making, and often provide good usage or assembly tips too.